TERN - Winter 2021

Tern www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk

WINTER 2021

Brendan’s Marsh Creating a nationally scarce reedbed

Wildlife Gardening

Upcycle household items into wildlife habitats

Claylands Wilder Connections

An exciting and ambitious new project in South Norfolk

Saving Norfolk’s Wildlife for the Future

Exclusive holidays for life

Enjoy exclusive holidays for life in some of the UK and Europe’s most unspoilt places Scan to find out how you could enjoy holidays in beautiful places, year after year after year

Red squirrels at HPB’s Henllys on Anglesey

Ospreys over Loch Achray

Tigh Mor Trossachs; HPB's turreted mansion on the banks of Loch Achray in the Scottish Highlands

The Holiday Property Bond is a unique holiday investment, founded in the UK over 38 years ago. Its portfolio currently offers a range of more than 1,400 villas, cottages and apartments in over 30 exceptional locations across the UK and Europe. For an investment of as little as £5,000 (although the more you invest the more holidays you will be able to enjoy) you can holiday in any of these properties at any time of year throughout your lifetime and, in due course, pass the benefits on to your children or grandchildren.

Like The Wildlife Trusts, the Holiday Property Bond has always strived to protect our natural heritage, looking after the environment and working closely with nature.

Today our ‘Greener Together’ philosophy is stronger than ever, whether it’s developing a new site or renovating an historic building. Many of our properties in the UK are situated in National Parks or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with a number having achieved awards for their sympathetic architecture and natural landscaping. Both here and overseas HPB always seeks to find the most beautiful and unspoilt locations.

In the Scottish Highlands the grounds of our historic mansion attract both Red Deer and the elusive Pine Marten, whilst Osprey swooping over Loch Achray are also a common site. And the woodland surrounding 2 2

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our former Franciscan monastery on Anglesey is home to one of the UK’s largest Red Squirrel colonies.

From planting wild flower meadows at our home on the Purbeck coast, to looking after the ancient olive groves that grow amongst our Trulli in Puglia, HPB’s commitment to the environment is unwavering.

We wholeheartedly support The Wildlife Trusts in their aim to save and protect the UK’s wildlife and wild places.

That’s why we will donate £300 for every Norfolk Wildlife Trust member who becomes a Bondholder.

See summary of the terms and conditions alongside.

If you would like to find out more about HPB, please read the ‘Exclusive holidays for life’ section alongside and then request an information pack.

Scan the QR code or visit hpb.co.uk/nwt Call free on 0800 66 54 90

HPB The Holiday Property Bond

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Larger properties are also available. After an initial charge of 25% your money is invested in a fund of holiday properties and securities.

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Your investment return is purely in the form of holidays and, as with most investments, your capital is at risk.

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This advertisement is issued

by HPB Management Limited (HPBM) registered at HPB House, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8EH. HPBM is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is the main UK agent and the property manager for HPB, issued by HPB Assurance Limited (HPBA) registered in the Isle of Man and authorised by the Financial Services Authority there. The Trustee of HPB is Equiom (Isle of Man) Limited, registered at Jubilee Buildings, Victoria Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2SH. The Securities Manager is Stanhope Capital LLP of 35 Portman Square, London, W1H 6LR. No medical examination required. HPB is available exclusively through HPBM. HPBM promotes only HPB and is not independent of HPBA. Holders of policies issued by HPBA will not be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the company becomes unable to meet its liabilities to them but Isle of Man compensation arrangements apply to new policies.

The Wildlife Trusts donation will only be made if: 1. You quote “Wildlife Trusts” when requesting further details; and 2. You have not previously requested or received information about the Holiday Property Bond from us; and 3. You invest in the Holiday Property Bond within 24 months of your initial enquiry and do not cancel that investment within the statutory 30 day cooling off period.

WELCOME

Become a member Norfolk Wildlife Trust is a charity dedicated to all aspects of wildlife conservation in Norfolk. Established in 1926, we are the oldest in a partnership of 47 Wildlife Trusts located throughout the UK. As a member of NWT, you will help us to create a Living Landscape for Norfolk, where there is more space for wildlife, better connection of wildlife habitats and where people live healthier, more sustainable lives.

You will help us look after more than 50 fantastic nature reserves, ensuring they remain havens for wildlife and people.

If you are not already a member of NWT, please join today. Alternatively, you could give membership as a rewarding and worthwhile gift to a friend or relative. To become a member from as little as £2.60 a month you can: • Visit our website www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk • Call us on 01603 625540 • Ask a member of staff at one of our six visitor centres Tern is published three times a year by Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Advertising sales by Countrywide Publications and printed by Micropress Printers Ltd. Editor: Nick Acheson While every care is taken when accepting advertisements neither Norfolk Wildlife Trust nor Countrywide Publications can accept responsibility for unsatisfactory transactions which arise. The views expressed in this magazine are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

© IAN SAGGERS

NORFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST Bewick House, 22 Thorpe Road, Norwich NR1 1RY, UK T: 01603 625540 F: 01603 598300 E: info@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk All contents © Norfolk Wildlife Trust.

Reg Charity No: 208734 Cover photo: David Tipling

Welcome

From the Chief Executive A warm welcome to the new-look Winter edition of Tern; and my personal thanks to everyone in the NWT family for the wonderful welcome you have offered me in my new role. By the time you’re reading this we’ll know the outcome of the COP26 talks in Glasgow, which I’m sure will prompt vigorous debate. Whatever happens, you can rest assured that Norfolk Wildlife Trust will be here, standing up for Norfolk’s biodiversity and wild places, as we have for almost a century.

One of the things we have collectively learned during the COVID-19 pandemic is the value of local and accessible green space. This is a crucial stepping stone to caring about nature, which in turn is a stepping stone to loving and protecting nature. Connection with wildlife is central to our health and wellbeing and inspires us to stand up for wild places.

This is why engaging with the diverse communities of Norfolk is such a critical part of what we do. I’m really excited to report the launch of our Claylands Wilder Connections project in South Norfolk, which you can read about from page 22. This is a pioneering initiative, of national significance, to restore the fabric of our landscape, through community participation and engagement.

One pillar of our nature conservation community was Sir Timothy Colman; and at Norfolk Wildlife Trust we mourn his loss. Throughout our history we have stood on the shoulders of giants.

Sir Timothy Colman was one of these, and he is sadly missed.

Eliot Lyne Chief Executive

CONTENTS 04 Wildlife news 10

Species spotlight

12

A life in art

14

Wildlife roundup

18

Brendan’s Marsh

22

Claylands Wilder Connections

29

All creatures great and small

32

Explore, Discover, Take action

38

Wildlife gardening

40 Many ways to reap a harvest 43

Learn with Tern

44

Get involved

46

From the President TERN | Winter 2021

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WILD NEWS Highlights from Norfolk and national news from The Wildlife Trusts Sir Timothy Colman accompanying Her Majesty The Queen at the opening of Ranworth Broad visitor centre in 1976

Sir Timothy Colman 19 September 1929 – 9 September 2021 On 14 October, NWT held its 94th AGM. Whilst it was a much-welcomed meeting of our members after many months, staff and trustees were very aware that one great advocate, our longstanding Vice Patron, Sir Timothy Colman, was not with us. His sad passing in September was marked

by Chair of Trustees, Alice Liddle.

Described as a man of many hats Sir Timothy was passionate about countless aspects of Norfolk life including nature, sailing and art. NWT was fortunate to have the former Lord Lieutenant as a trustee from 1954, and its President in the 1960s; and he became Vice Patron in 1979. Alongside his support for NWT, he 4

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worked with the Nature Conservancy Council, Norfolk and Norwich Horticultural Society and the English Countryside Commission, amongst many other organisations including Archant and the University of East Anglia.

Chair of NWT Alice Liddle captured the feelings of staff and trustees stating that ‘Sir Timothy had a genuine passion for nature and as a result always wanted to understand what was happening with the Trust and its impact on wildlife in Norfolk.

‘He presided over the Trust’s growth from a small-scale organisation in the 1960s, when it had approximately 800 members,

to the mass membership organisation it is now with 36,000 members.

‘He showed a lively interest in the growth of the Trust’s land holdings for the purpose of conservation, including the establishment at his encouragement of the Trust’s first urban nature reserve, Thorpe Marshes. He was a friend to the Trust as well as our Vice Patron and he is a great loss to us given his commitment to our work, staff and volunteers over so many years.’

NWT will greatly miss his presence and keen interest in our work and is fortunate to have counted on his support for so many years.

WILD NEWS

Seeding the Future For the past decade, Norfolk Wildlife Trust has worked with Norfolk County Council and the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group on a small but essential project. The quiet lanes of South Norfolk are home to some of the finest Roadside Nature Reserves in the county, many of which are fragments of old common land, with unusual flowers like sulphur clover and tiny shrubs like Dyer’s greenweed and the pink-flowered spiny restharrow.

that is being converted to grassland and on sites cared for by community groups at Poringland and Claxton. As Norfolk Wildlife Trust rolls out its new Wilder Connections project, we hope that more landowners and communities will have a place for new meadows and play a

part in supporting these species and the myriad of insects that rely on them.

Until then, we will cross our fingers and head out to survey our new meadows in the spring, hoping that scarce flowers will have germinated.

© DAVID NORTH

Working together, and with the help of an experienced contractor, we have collected seed from these plants and used it to create new meadows across South Norfolk. Seed is collected by hand and by cutting ‘green’ hay in late summer, when it is full of seedheads, of both flowers and tiny sedges and wild grasses. The seed and hay are then spread on carefully prepared sites and allowed to flourish. Yellow rattle, harvested from a County Wildlife Site, is also added to the mix as it is semiparasitic on some grasses and helps reduce their vigour, allowing other young flowers to flourish.

Despite the intermittent rain, our team was out in force again this summer, spreading hay and seed on farmland

Gypsy moth flies in The name Gypsy Moth is famously associated with the British pilot Amy Johnson, and her successful attempt, in 1930, to be the first woman to fly solo around the world. Her biplane Jason was built by the British aircraft manufacturer de Havilland, although the real gypsy moth, after which the model of aeroplane was named, had effectively become extinct in the UK over thirty years earlier. The gypsy moth was once common across wetland areas, particularly in the East Anglian Fens and Norfolk Broads, but had died out by the end of the 19th century, with the last being recorded in 1907. Most authorities consider wide-

scale drainage the reason for its demise, but since its caterpillars happily feed on bog myrtle or creeping willow, both of which persist, there is no obvious explanation for its disappearance.

During the 20th century the odd immigrant from continental Europe was recorded, and Norfolk has had fewer than ten records since 2000.

Several years ago, records around London began to increase, due possibly to accidental introduction.

It came as a wonderful surprise to Bruce Carman, NWT Hickling Broad visitor centre volunteer, to find a

male in the centre’s moth trap this autumn. Bruce often runs moth traps, which harmlessly lure moths to light, to enable visitors to enjoy the many colourful and interesting moths found on the reserve. The capture of this species is thought to mark the first time it has been recorded at Hickling in over 120 years.

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WILD NEWS

Sentinel of the wilderness There can be few sounds so evocative of our wild places as the echoing call of the curlew.

For many it expresses the very nature of the lonely, open spaces in which it lives. Whether heard on windswept northern moors or the vast mudflats of the Wash, its eerie ‘cur-lee’ call has been immortalised in numerous poems and folksongs through the ages, and is still one of the threads running through the fabric of our country’s rural identity.

This pigeon-sized bird has undistinguished plumage of mottled brown and grey which serves as effective camouflage. It also possesses, like many other wading birds, relatively long legs.

But what really sets the curlew apart is an elongated, down-curved bill. The only other regular British bird sporting this feature is its smaller cousin the whimbrel, which in Norfolk is a passage migrant.

The curlew was once a widespread breeding bird throughout the UK. However, centuries of hunting, land drainage and egg collection (for food, rather than recreation), restricted its breeding range to our remote uplands.

The turn of the twentieth century saw some recovery, with the curlew even returning to lowland East Anglia.

In 1910 it reappeared as a breeding bird at Roydon Common and by 1950 it was breeding again in the Brecks.

Unfortunately, this recovery was shortlived and the species has suffered a rapid decline in numbers since the 1980s. This is mirrored by other members of the genus Numenius. The Eskimo curlew of North America, once numbering tens of millions, has been declared extinct, and the slender-billed curlew of the Russian steppe has had no reliable sightings since the late 1990s.

Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Ash Murray, West Norfolk Reserves Manager and custodian of several breeding pairs of curlews, 6

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says: ‘The UK supports approximately half of the global population of Eurasian curlews. Despite this, our population is in long term-decline and it is estimated that the UK population has fallen by around 50% in the last 20 years.’

After an absence of many years, curlews have returned to a former Norfolk breeding site, following habitat improvement by NWT. This year a team of volunteers monitored curlews at two sites in the northwest of the county, confirming that five pairs attempted to breed. Hatching success was good, with at least three pairs producing young.

Unfortunately, all but one of these broods succumbed to predation at the early chick stage. Despite this disappointment, Ash remains upbeat: ‘The work carried out by our volunteers has been vital in building a better understanding of the key threats to breeding curlews and will help us tailor future management, which with luck will improve breeding success.’

Following careful observation, Ash and his team installed a trail camera close to a curlew nest, without disturbing the birds. ‘The camera recorded hatching over a prolonged period,’ Ash explained.

‘This is unusual for curlews. The female

normally doesn’t start brooding until the last egg is laid, so the chicks hatch synchronously. It took six days for the eggs to hatch out. In the meantime, the male and female took it in turns to brood the eggs and small young, while the other parent stayed close by.’ The camera also recorded nest changeovers by the parents and young lapwing chicks wandering past.

With up to forty territorial pairs, the Brecks are the county stronghold for breeding curlews, though here too they suffer mixed fortunes. Curlews breed at several NWT sites, but up to two thirds of Breckland curlews nest on the British Army’s Stanford Training Area.

It’s no coincidence that the habitat of the army training ground has remained unchanged for decades or even centuries.

Across sites owned and managed by NWT, up to nine pairs have been recorded. As in northwest Norfolk, fledging success is low, though it is improving. James Symonds, NWT Warden at Weeting Heath, monitors birds at Weeting and Hockwold and says, ‘Lower rabbit numbers and increased airborne nitrogen contribute to a taller sward

WILD NEWS

© RICHARD STEEL/2020VISION

Up with the Lark managed by Irene Boston. Volunteers have been monitoring ground-nesting birds here, in an effort to help NWT conserve them while still allowing people to enjoy access to the site.

Ash Murray, NWT West Norfolk Reserves Manager, said: ‘The prolonged cold, wet spring this year suppressed plant growth, leading to increased predation of ground nests. It also prevented skylarks from achieving the body condition necessary to attempt nesting. While we can’t alter the weather, we have gathered valuable information, and we can alter livestock grazing and protect nests that we find. With luck this will lead to improved success in the future.’

By mid-July most curlews have left their breeding grounds and moved to the coast, where they are joined by large numbers of birds from Scandinavia and Russia.

They will spend the winter feeding on the lugworms and other invertebrates that abound in mudflats, saltmarsh creeks and estuaries. This is the best time of year to watch curlews, as many thousands can be present in Norfolk.

The best places to see them are along the coastline of the Wash or on Breydon Water at Great Yarmouth.

NWT’s wardens and volunteers are working hard in northwest Norfolk and the Brecks to ensure that our largest wader’s far-carrying, bubbling call will continue to drift across our wild places and remain an inspiration to future generations of poets and musicians.

Nightjars off to a great start Volunteers have been surveying breeding nightjars at NWT’s West Norfolk reserves this year, where some 22 males announced their territories with their mechanical churring songs and moth-like, fluttering display flights. Despite atrocious weather, monitoring revealed that several pairs arrived and established territories early in the season, and by early June were at the point of fledging their first broods. We hope this allowed them time to make a second nesting attempt before they headed south to their wintering grounds south of the Sahel in Africa.

During a joint netting session by NWT, the British Trust for Ornithology and Natural England, a male and female nightjar were caught at Roydon Common and the female was fitted with a GPS tag. Ash Murray, NWT West Norfolk Reserves Manager, said:

‘The male had already been ringed as a chick at Dersingham Bog in 2014. The group tagged the female nightjar and, provided they can recapture her, we should learn where she has been foraging. In turn this will help guide our understanding of how Roydon Common fits within the larger landscape.’

© DAVID TIPLING

which does seem to favour Eurasian curlew. Unlike in upland populations, invertebrate food is still plentiful, so starvation isn’t a limiting factor as far as we can tell.’ James also feels predation is the driving force behind poor productivity. ‘Even sheep have been recorded eating curlew eggs; so they get hammered by everything.’

© AMY LEWIS

‘Up with the Lark’ is a research project at Rising Breck, part of NWT Roydon Common. Supported by the West Norfolk Habitats Monitoring and Mitigation Fund (HMMF), it is

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WILD NEWS

Visitors walking through the woods at NWT Hickling Broad & Marshes may have noticed numbered boxes high up in many of the trees. Since 2017, Norwich Bat Group has been participating in the National Nathusius’ Pipistrelle Project run by the Bat Conservation Trust.

The Norfolk contribution, led by Jane Harris, is investigating the ecology and conservation status of the species in our county. The group has found that the Broads are a hotspot for Nathusius’ pipistrelle and has already located several maternity roosts.

Ringing recoveries have shown that Nathusius’ pipistrelle is a long-distance migrant and frequently crosses the North Sea to overwinter in the UK. All trapped Nathusius’ pipistrelles are

© TERRY WHITTAKER/2020VISION

Rare bat survey at Hickling

ringed, so that ringing recoveries can provide information about movements locally or further afield. To improve the chances of recapture of ringed bats, the Norwich Bat Group has installed bat boxes at trapping sites in the Broads, including NWT Hickling Broad &

Marshes. The boxes are checked twice annually. So far, some of the 20 boxes at Hickling (which have only been in place for about 12 months) have been used by soprano pipistrelles, but the hope is that Nathusius’ pipistrelles will take up residence in the future.

Big vision, high ambition – a year of progress UK UPDATE

This September marked the first anniversary of 30 by 30, The Wildlife Trusts’ vision for 30% of land and sea to be restored for nature by 2030. In the past year trusts have launched some inspirational projects to restore land for nature, from saving meadows for mountain pansies in Shropshire to restoring rhos pasture — marshy grasslands home to rare butterflies, curlew and snipe — in Radnorshire.

In Norfolk, we are expanding one of the Brecks’ most important nature reserves for wildlife: securing for conservation three areas of land at NWT Thompson Common. Thanks to your generous support, we will continue to bring nature back across the UK, linking up wild places, protecting and repairing others.

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Discover more 30 by 30 projects at wildlifetrusts.org/ 30-30-30

WILD NEWS

Sunflower power UK UPDATE

© BEN HALL/2020VISION

Birdfood supplier, Vine House Farm has generated £2 million to support the conservation work of The Wildlife Trusts. For the past 14 years, The Wildlife Trusts have been in partnership with the wildlife-friendly farm in Lincolnshire, with a percentage of each purchase of their bird seed going to local Wildlife Trusts and helping wildlife across the UK. This year saw their contribution pass this impressive milestone, with the Covid-19 pandemic prompting more people than ever to purchase food for their garden birds. Vine House Farm grows 400 acres of bird seed crops, including ever-popular sunflower seeds.

The farm is also a haven for wildlife in itself, with a thriving population of tree sparrows and other farmland birds.

Millennium seed bank threatened in the wild by climate change or development, or are related to plants we eat, are collected, dried and frozen.

Such storage means that they may be

© REX GRAHAM

With two in five plant species at risk of extinction, Kew Botanical Gardens initiated the Millennium Seed Bank Project. The seeds of plants that are

germinated and reintroduced to the wild in the future if necessary.

Volunteers from the Breckland Flora Group have been collecting seeds at NWT reserves including Weeting Heath and Cranwich Heath. Anna Saltmarsh, Plantlife volunteer and member of the BFG explained: ‘Many of Breckland’s specialist plant species, such as Spanish catchfly, are highly restricted in their national distribution and are found here at the northwestern limit of their global range. It is often only through the attentive protection of unique habitats by organisations like Norfolk Wildlife Trust that populations of these species continue to survive in the UK. By collecting living seeds for storage in the Millennium Seed Bank we are generating a back-up of the genetic diversity within these populations, including their adaptations to local conditions. The seeds will be stored in conditions designed to maximise their longevity, and can be drawn down from the bank as and when the need may arise – for purposes of research, education or restoration.’

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Bringing the

High Arctic to Norfolk

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In winter the Norfolk shoreline is a great place to see snow buntings. In summer they are High Arctic specialists, with a circumpolar range. A small, isolated breeding population, left behind by the last ice age, still subsists on the high tops of the Scottish Cairngorms. It is here that the male bird can be seen in his beautiful snowy white plumage with contrasting jet black wings. By December snow bunting begin to appear around the coast of Norfolk, favouring sandy beaches with adjacent dunes or saltmarshes. Never particularly numerous, flocks of a dozen or so can be found in most of the suitable habitats

along the Norfolk coast. As winter bites a little harder, flocks often combine and groups of fifty or more are not uncommon. Look for a relatively large bunting which, though not quite as striking in winter, is still predominately white, with light brown streaking and a buff chest band. Breeding in the Arctic means they have little fear of humans and can be quite accommodating for photographers. Some of the best places to search for snow buntings are Winterton-on-Sea, NWT Holme Dunes, NWT Cley and Salthouse Marshes, Holkham Gap and Wells-next-the-Sea.

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© DAVID TIPLING

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT

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ALL ARTWORK © COLIN BURNS

A LIFE IN ART

A Life in Art

N

orfolk artist Colin Burns has enjoyed a long association with Norfolk Wildlife Trust which began in the 1970s when a painting depicting a ruined mill on Norfolk marshes was chosen for the NWT Christmas card. The Trust has now used the artist’s work for 44 years, right up to the present day.

Colin Burns was born in St Olaves in 1944 and is an entirely self-taught artist.

From his earliest days painting has been his absorbing interest and it remains an addictive passion. Throughout his life he has been an obsessive sketcher and hardly a day goes by without additions to his sketchbook, which are largely recorded with speed and spontaneity.

One of the greatest influences on his work came at the age of 12 when his family moved to an isolated farmhouse on the edge of West Caister marshes. The move introduced the young artist to the big skies and wide open landscape typical of this part of Norfolk. The abundance of local wildlife and a burgeoning interest in natural history laid the foundations for life as an artist. He sold his first painting at the age of 15 and before long was attracting attention from London 12

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galleries. His first one-man show took place in 1975 at The Tryon Gallery in Cork Street and many more shows followed. His work is still keenly sought after and is included in many important collections in Europe and North America.

Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserves are an inspiration to many artists and Colin

Burns is no exception. The wildlife and wild places of Norfolk have been a constant subject; and in turn NWT has embraced his work as part of its Christmas card collection. Colin’s cards have built a loyal following over the years and this year NWT is very pleased to feature his painting ‘Winter at Ranworth’ among its Christmas cards.

Buy your NWT Christmas cards on our website or with your mail order form

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WILDLIFE ROUNDUP

Wildlife

Roundup

WORDS BY ROBIN CHITTENDEN, THE VOICE OF BIRDLINE EAST ANGLIA

Right: Camberwell beauty; Left: barred warbler © Robin Chittenden

E

very so often a large, dark purple, cream-edged butterfly called the Camberwell beauty reaches our shores. These charismatic beasts from Scandinavia tend to coincide with an arrival of migrant songbirds that have originated from the same area.

Weather conditions aligned, during the latter part of August, in such a way that birds leaving Scandinavia found themselves adrift from their intended route; so they arrived on the Norfolk coast. It was like the good old days, with many pied flycatchers seen at coastal locations. Other even more exotic species such as greenish, icterine and barred warblers and a couple of red-backed shrikes were also found. Blakeney Point seemed to have the lion’s share, including up to six wrynecks on one day.

The Netherlands had witnessed an arrival of Camberwell beauties earlier in August, so hopes were high that some might get here too. Joy of joys: a few did make it to Norfolk and one even stayed around for two days at Burnham Overy

Dunes. A little frustratingly for the assembled crowd, it spent most of its time feeding on a blackberry hidden out of view, but occasionally it would pop out to the delight of onlookers.

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The annual shenanigans of the breeding peregrines at Norwich Cathedral were again a highlight for many. Interest in these birds was more intense this year, as the birds at Cromer failed to breed.

The pair in Norwich successfully fledged three young: two males and a female.

The young female came to ground once and was seen to be having problems flying. Her flight muscles were simply not powerful enough for her to gain any lift. She was caught and released from the Bell Tower, from which day forth her flying abilities went from strength to strength. Females leaving the breeding ledge for the first time are much heavier than males and are more likely to find that gravity gets the better of them.

The juveniles’ ability to grab prey from their parents mid-flight is a behaviour that must be a learnt by experience.

An attempted food pass happened almost directly above my head as I stood in the cloisters. The prey, a newly plucked pigeon, was dropped. The 16

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adult then hurtled down after it, before pulling up, when it realised there was a gawping human below. The carcass landed with a thud just a few feet away. When I retreated, in the hope the adult would return to retrieve the prey, two lesser black-backed gulls nipped in and the carcass was soon the subject of a tug-of-war between them. Nothing is wasted in nature.

As with any illuminated building it is worth checking around the floodlights, particularly in the early morning, to see if any insects have been attracted to the light. On one occasion I almost overlooked something as a discarded leaf. As my eyes focused it morphed into a sublimely-coloured lime hawkmoth.

A sparrowhawk breeding nearby at Sweet Briar Marsh also attracted local interest. It was a joy to see the scruffy youngsters fledge, while the mum sat watching them, from a discreet distance, making sure

they didn’t get into any trouble. She would also attempt to pounce on the woodpigeons feeding in trees near the nest site; not that this seemed to deter them. They would return within a few minutes as if they’d already forgotten about their near-death experience.

Over the last forty years, as our climate has become warmer, Norfolk has seen the arrival and colonisation of a few species of dragonfly. These include the small red-eyed damselfly, western willow spreadwing (or willow emerald damselfly) and lesser emperor. Others may be on the verge of doing so. The blue-eyed hawker (or southern migrant hawker) is one, but the vagrant emperor has until this autumn remained, as its name implies, a vagrant. Embarrassingly, I found what was probably the second ever to be seen in Norfolk at Burnham Overy Dunes in 2016 but managed only a couple of poor record photos.

Stupidly I didn’t check them for two weeks, as I thought it was probably just

WILDLIFE ROUNDUP

a migrant hawker. Imagine my surprise when on the screen I saw a female vagrant emperor! Things were put right this autumn with the arrival of up to eight vagrant emperors in the dunes at Waxham and Winterton. The males are quite distinct with an eye-catching powder blue ‘rump’. The females are more subtle, and brilliantly camouflaged when resting in the marram grass.

The articles and photographs on this page are by Robin Chittenden, ‘the voice of Birdline East Anglia’. Anyone can listen to the latest bird sightings by phoning 09068 700 245. Calls cost 65p per minute plus your telephone company access charge. For enquiries please call 07941333970. birdlineeastanglia.co.uk You can see more of his bird & wildlife photographs at robinchittenden.co.uk

Above: Young peregrine at Norwich Cathedral and sparrowhawk at Sweet Briar Marsh; Left: Vagrant emperor – a very rare visitor to Norfolk © Robin Chittenden

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Brendan’s Marsh Developing a nationally scarce reedbed

WORDS BY ROBERT MORGAN, RESERVES OFFICER 18

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BRENDAN’S MARSH

T

he adage ‘if you build it, they will come’ is certainly true of Brendan’s Marsh at NWT Hickling Broad and Marshes. The variety and number of birds breeding, wintering and using the marsh on migration has surpassed all expectations. With 2021 also having been the busiest year on record for human visitors, more people than ever have enjoyed this internationally important nature reserve.

Those familiar with Hickling Broad will know that Brendan’s Marsh stretches from Whiteslea track to Stubb Mill paddock, covering approximately 20 hectares. It is nestled next to the impressive Christopher Cadbury Marsh, and is perfectly situated to develop into more of this nationally scarce habitat; offering an extended home for bitterns, marsh harriers, bearded tits and numerous other reedbed birds. Its close proximity to this wellestablished reedbed should also ensure that it is quickly colonised by many rare Broadland invertebrates and plants. It is not just birds that will prosper in the pools, dykes and scrapes. Mammals such as water shrew and water vole will also benefit, and harvest mice will profit from the mosaic of tall-herb wetland habitats.

© DAVID TIPLING

Left: Male bearded tit in a winter reedbed Below: The rotary ditcher at work creating sinuous ditches for wildlife

TERN | Winter 2021

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BRENDAN’S MARSH Below: Reprofiled ditches will favour scarce breeding birds such as lapwing and redshank

© JOHN ASSHETON

“In 2019 this remarkable site was renamed Brendan’s Marsh in recognition of the distinguished tenure of NWT’s former Chief Executive, Brendan Joyce OBE.” This site was formerly drained agricultural land, known as Bishop’s Marsh, and various crops including potatoes and carrots were grown on it. NWT began leasing the site once it was reverted to grazing marsh.

Cattle and sometimes ponies were grazed here and the marsh was home to meadow pipits, skylarks and occasionally breeding lapwings.

In 2011, as part of wider Broadland flood alleviation work, the existing flood defence along the edge of Hickling Broad was not strengthened and renewed.

Instead, a new flood embankment was constructed along Whiteslea track and off towards Stubb Mill to reconnect a large area of the nature reserve to its natural floodplain. The resulting groundworks created a borrow-dyke around the perimeter and a large shallow scrape. The inclusion of water control structures allowed for future manipulation of water levels. Over the following years the site progressed from strength to strength, with breeding lapwings, redshanks and avocets all increasing. Little egrets and grey herons patrol the pools, and it’s not uncommon to find a pair of cranes leading a fluffy ginger chick or two along

20

TERN | Winter 2021

the dyke edges. The array of visiting birds is staggering, with great egret and spoonbill present on a daily basis.

Birdwatchers have been delighted by the arrival of vagrants such as glossy ibis and collared pratincole. The marsh provides a feeding stop in spring and autumn for regular migrant birds too, with wood and green sandpipers and ruff passing in good numbers. In summer, hobbies hawk for dragonflies and the reed fringes are alive with warblers and reed buntings.

In winter, when the water level is higher, hundreds of ducks are present, with teal, shoveler and gadwall dabbling about in the shallow pools and tufted ducks diving in the deeper dykes.

In 2019 this remarkable site was renamed Brendan’s Marsh in recognition of the distinguished tenure of NWT’s former Chief Executive, Brendan Joyce OBE. Now owned by the Trust, it is managed in partnership with the Environment Agency as a reedbed creation project.

Across the entire UK there are only 5,000 hectares of reedbed, accounting for just 0.02% of land coverage. Rising sea level and coastal erosion have resulted in some reedbeds being lost, meaning new habitat creation is vital.

As part of the partnership, the EA provides funding that allows us to maintain and improve the habitat. This autumn, a rotary ditcher spent a week creating new winding channels and dykes, with the resulting earth used to leave textures of wet and dry land. Next, using a large 360 digger, NWT’s specialist machine operator Paul Lambert connected the new channels to our existing dyke system. He also carried out wildlife friendly re-profiling of some of the ditch edges. This will maintain water coverage during summer, create muddy edges for birds to feed along, provide added protection from predators and allow reed and other fen plants to colonise the centre of the marsh.

Although the destiny of the marsh is to become chiefly reedbed, the project has allowed for twenty per cent open water and at least two hectares of wet grassland. The bund edges and varying ground heights will ensure that the marsh provides a mosaic of wetland habitats throughout the year and continues to attract many of the species that we currently enjoy.

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21

Claylands

Wilder

Connections Norfolk Wildlife Trust is embarking on an exciting and ambitious new project aiming to stitch together the fabric of the countryside and local communities in South Norfolk.

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TERN | Winter 2021

CLAYLANDS

WORDS BY MATT JONES, LIVING LANDSCAPE OFFICER

T

he Claylands Wilder Connections project has been funded through the second round of the Green Recovery Challenge Fund. Financed by Defra but administered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, this is a ‘short-term competitive fund to kick-start environmental renewal while creating and retaining a range of jobs in England’. Our project secured over £240,000 from the fund.

Additional financial support has been committed by Norfolk County Council, who are also providing an in-kind contribution of time, alongside the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the RSPB. Along with our partners across the conservation sector, at NWT we mean to tackle the biodiversity and climate crises by delivering nature conservation at a landscape scale, securing wildlife-rich, thriving and sustainably-managed landscapes in the long term. One of the keys to this more ambitious approach is improving ecological connectivity across the countryside.

The Claylands Wilder Connections project represents an exciting and ambitious opportunity to trial new approaches to the delivery of nature conservation at scale.

Geographically the project will focus on the comparatively under-valued Claylands of South Norfolk: an intensivelyfarmed landscape, but one that retains notable relict patches of habitat. The project will combine the latest mapping and best practice management advice to support farmers and local communities as they come together in the targeted delivery of a more connected countryside.

© M WATSON

Connecting habitats

The Claylands Wilder Connections project is built on the idea of connectivity: first and foremost habitat connectivity. Given the dominance of arable farming in this part of the county, the project will focus on the restoration of the fabric of the wider countryside: its ponds, hedges, copses, trees and associated margins and meadows. When considering habitat connectivity, initial thoughts naturally turn to direct physical links. Clearly a comprehensive network of well-managed hedgerows is important. But achieving a resilient landscape cannot rely solely on this. Restoring and creating stepping stones of other habitats across the countryside will allow species to move effectively and safely between larger blocks of habitat. Hence the project also aims to restore and create ponds, establish woods, plant more trees and establish more floristically diverse grasslands, either as margins or meadows. While all of this restoration and creation is important, ensuring its long-term value for our wildlife means we must also ensure appropriate on-going management of habitats, both existing and new.

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© M WATSON

© KARL CHARTERS

1

Above and left: The historic and beautiful Claylands landscape is home to many declining species, including barn owl, hedgehog and great crested newt

Connecting people

© DAVE KILBEY

2

For many, the Covid pandemic has brought the importance of the local environment into sharp focus. Building on this, and on our previous work in communities, another significant strand of the Claylands Wilder Connections project relates to connecting people with their local landscapes. In part this is about promoting better understanding of the countryside and the ways in which it is managed. But perhaps more importantly it is also about providing opportunities for communities to take meaningful action for the local environment. In particular, the project will address the perceived gap between farmers and local communities, looking at how their combined resources, knowledge and enthusiasm can be united to deliver and sustain a connected countryside.

A further ambition is to empower farmers, landowners, local communities and individuals to make informed decisions about habitat management, restoration and creation. To this end, the project will collate wide-ranging information on best practice and make it available as a digital resource. We will also develop a toolkit explaining how to use existing mapped data and other sources in the delivery of targeted habitat connectivity projects.

24 24

TERN WINTER | Winter 2021 2021 TERN

CLAYLANDS

A Ra mshackle History Words by Helen Baczkowska, Acting Conservation Manager

These features are products of a history that starts with the melting of glaciers millennia ago. The ‘boulder clay’, formed from ground-up rocks from central England, was dumped as the ice sheets retreated, leaving a low plateau that runs from Essex, through Suffolk and into central North Norfolk. Over time, rivers have worn valleys into the clay, sometimes as deep as the chalk bedrock beneath.

3 “Restoring and creating stepping stones of habitat across the countryside will allow species to move effectively and safely between larger blocks.”

New staff

To achieve the ambition of this project (and meet the requirements of the grant fund) the project has employed two new project officers. Ben Newton and Sue Grime, Habitat Connectivity and Community Engagement Officers respectively, have already started work. Later in the year we will also be recruiting two new interns from the University of East Anglia to provide support to the project officers, while themselves gaining valuable experience as they start their careers in the sector.

Just the start

Clearly, geographically-targeted, short-term projects such as Claylands Wilder Connections can’t resolve all the challenges faced by our wildlife. But we see this very much as a pilot project, through which we will develop resources, learning and experience. We anticipate that the exciting and innovative approaches being trialed can be rolled out across South Norfolk and beyond in the years to come.

During the medieval period, South Norfolk, like much of England, was farmed by an ‘open field’ system of strips divided among villagers, but this was heavy land to plough, especially with oxen and wooden implements.

The worst soils were often left as common land, important for grazing and gathering fuel as timber or turf.

© ANDY ROUSE/2020VISION

In The History of the British Countryside, Oliver Rackham calls the South Norfolk Claylands ‘ramshackle’. He uses the word to describe the layers of history in the area: Saxon churches with their round flint towers, timber-framed farmhouses and traces of Bronze Age fields. Ramshackle also seems a good word for the twisting lanes, the scattered villages and the open commons.

Rackham also calls the Claylands ‘unplanned’. The ‘planned’ countryside of North Norfolk is largely the result of open fields being enclosed from the mid-1700s, often by large estates. The unplanned Claylands are a product of older and more piecemeal enclosure, sometimes the result of declines in rural populations, when for ease farmers gathered their strips into smallholdings. In Tudor times a ‘wood-pasture’ economy developed and cattle were grazed beneath trees that were pollarded (repeatedly cut at about head height) to produce small timber beyond the reach of cows. Hedges from these early enclosures usually followed the irregular edges of earlier farmed strips, preserving the meandering lanes. The commons themselves may have survived for the simple reason that pasture was valuable to the villagers.

Despite the many changes in the Claylands landscape in the past 500 years, elements of this ancient, unplanned countryside are still evident. Turn off the main road or follow one of the long-distance footpaths and you can find yourself among tall hedges with pollards of hornbeam or oak, ponds formed from clay pits for building materials, ancient woodlands and of course, the open commons. All of these are wonderful for wildlife and evidence of how, for thousands of years, the human and natural histories of this landscape have been closely linked.

TERN | Winter 2021

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CLAYLANDS

A Rich Landscape for F lora and Fauna Through the Claylands Wilder Connections project we will be improving connectivity across three identified hubs. This will benefit many organisms, including these five iconic species of the Claylands:

© RUSSELL SAVORY

1 GREAT CRESTED NEWT Triturus cristatus This rare amphibian needs large, clean ponds with plenty of plantlife for breeding in spring. Great crested newts spend the rest of the year feeding on invertebrates in woodland, hedgerows and tussocky grassland. This is a priority conservation species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) and will benefit from pond and meadow restoration.

Hickling Broa

2 HEDGEHOG Erinaceus europaeus A UK BAP priority species on account of a 50% decline in the last 20 years, the hedgehog forages in woodland, along hedgerows and margins and around ponds, for insects and other invertebrates.

3 BARN OWL Tyto alba Barn owls love to hunt over rough pasture, grassland, hay meadows and well-managed field margins, all of which are typical Claylands habitats.

4

TURTLE DOVE Streptopelia turtur Turtle doves do best in mixed farmland with tall, thick hedgerows or scrub for nesting, and ponds for drinking.

The Claylands project will benefit them by surveying and restoring old hedgerows and farm ponds.

5 SULPHUR CLOVER Trifolium ochroleucon A nationally scarce plant of meadows, roadside verges, grassland and woodland margins on the chalky boulderclays typical of the Claylands in South Norfolk. Threats include the conversion of old meadows to arable farming, lack of grass cutting, encroachment of scrub and road development schemes.

4 The three ‘hubs’

With a relatively short, 18-month delivery window, and a desire to show meaningful and demonstrable improvements across the landscape, the project needs to target its activity. It is therefore focusing on three ‘hubs’, as shown on the map. These have been selected as they build on interesting but contrasting opportunities identified during research for our project bid, including existing community interest in the northern hub; the establishment of a farm cluster (with farmers coming together to work on joint environmental projects) in the eastern hub; and the writing of a neighbourhood plan in the western hub.

Get involved

Attend one of our six ‘Making the Connection’ events hosted in community venues across the three hubs.

These events will introduce the project and the concept of habitat connectivity, and will use mapping to identify opportunities to develop greater habitat connectivity in each hub.

Volunteer to survey or restore hedgerows, ponds or grassland as part of our Claylands Wilder Connections Project. Email us to register your interest.

Get involved with our forthcoming barn owl campaign by sending us your sightings.

Email: wild@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk or find out more at: norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/wilderconnections

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TERN | Winter 2021

A11

WYMONDHAM SAXLINGHAM

ATTLEBOROUGH A140

DITCHINGHAM A143

DISS Diss

© GEMMA WALKER

ng Broad

5 Connectivity mapping

One of the key elements in delivering nature conservation at a landscape scale is improving connectivity between habitats. To help in the targeting of interventions to improve ecological connectivity, we commissioned the GeoData team at Southampton University to generate a series of habitat connectivity maps.

Mapping software has been used to undertake analysis of existing county-wide habitat maps (primarily derived from detailed satellite imagery), considering three broad habitat types: woodland; grassland/heath; and wetland.

In a nutshell, the first stage for each broad category is to map the patches of ‘core’ habitat (all blocks of woodland or grassland, for example). All other habitat types are then scored to reflect their ‘resistance’ to the potential movement of species trying to move between core habitat patches. Thus a woodland species will be better able to travel through scrub and grassland than through arable land or open water. The computer system then undertakes myriad calculations, the

results of which are presented as a ‘heat map’. The example given is an extract from the woodland connectivity heat map.

Essentially the map shows how easily a woodland species might move through the landscape between woods. Green areas reflect a combination of the shortest distance, the least hostile habitat and the fewest barriers, with the challenges increasing in the redder areas. Viewed another way, the green areas will be the most efficient and cost-effective locations to provide additional habitat, bridging the shortest distances and requiring the least significant land-use change.

Given that this work has only recently been completed, the Claylands project provides the first opportunity to apply this new analysis in a real-world situation, offering an exciting prospect for NWT.

Above: A woodland connnectivity heat map. Green areas present fewest challenges to woodland species crossing the landscape, while red areas present the most.

TERN | Winter 2021

27

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TERN | Winter 2021

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BISHOP’S HOUSE GARDEN

All Creatures

Great

and Small

A garden wildlife audit B

© GUY EDWARDES/2020VISION

eing a volunteer for Norfolk Wildlife Trust sometimes allows access to some simply wonderful locations. In the main, this means lending a hand on those very special parcels of land managed by the Trust: perhaps a practical task, assisting with guided walks or helping out at events. And then, on occasion, an opportunity arises that is simply too good to ignore. One such was experienced by myself and Allan Archer during the autumn of 2020, when we were asked to help organise and undertake a wildlife audit of the Bishop’s House Garden in the centre of Norwich.

WORDS BY BARRY MADDEN, NWT VOLUNTEER

I’d visited this garden before as a member of the public during one of its charity open days, and was impressed that such a beautiful, well-managed garden could exist in the centre of a large urban environment. It is effectively invisible to the casual observer, surrounded as it is by a high flint wall, and I would guess most people walk by without any knowledge of what delights can be found on the other side of this protective enclosure. To be allowed access during twelve whole months, to be able to see first-hand how it was nurtured, to see it reveal its treasures as the seasons took its hand was surely a privilege to savour. We both assented to the challenge without hesitation.

TERN | Winter 2021

29

BISHOP’S HOUSE GARDEN The Bishop’s House Garden is managed in an eco-efficient manner by Sam Garland, Head Gardener. It soon became clear that many of the wildlife-friendly features commonly recommended for incorporation into an urban garden had already been thought about and put in place. There is a delightful wild garden which has been full of colour and insect activity throughout the spring and summer; a woodland edge that provides shelter, food and breeding sites for birds and small mammals; the organicallymanaged lawn and its unmown sloped banks ensure wildflowers and their associated bees and butterflies find sanctuary; and the formal flower borders are simply stunning and full of nectarbearing flowers for most of the year.

With the welcome assistance of visiting experts, culminating in them helping en masse at the Bioblitz event in September 2021, impressive totals of wild creatures have been recorded. This includes the first record of a bee, Melitta haemorrhoidalis, the bellflower blunthorn bee, in east Norfolk since 1870. A reason to celebrate if ever there was one.

The whole experience has been a pleasure. Having access to this hidden gem, and discovering first-hand the positive results that can be achieved through environmentally-focussed gardening has been an education.

What it has really proven to us is that taking a few simple steps to incorporate the needs of wild creatures into your garden management can have almost instantaneous positive results. Although the Bishop’s House Garden is large by everyday standards, it is a working environment and not a nature reserve.

Thank you!

Norfolk Wildlife Trust would like to thank everyone who attended this community-led Bioblitz, especially the Bishop of Norwich who kindly opened his garden for the occasion. Here are some highlights from the day:

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TERN | Winter 2021

“Taking a few simple steps to incorporate the needs of wild creatures into your garden management can have almost instantaneous positive results” It is also subject to the limitation of being surrounded by a busy urban environment. In this respect it demonstrates how a sympathetic approach to management, that includes nature at its core, works for the benefit of both people and wildlife.

Above: A wildlife walk visits the meadow during our final bioblitz event at the Bishop’s House Garden © Meg Watts; white ermine moth © Vaughn Matthews

£1,500 raised for NWT’s Children and Nature Fund

Over 150 species recorded in six hours

These donations will help enable NWT projects connecting children of all ages and backgrounds with nature, such as our Sure Start with Nature flagship project, and sessions run in partnership with the Food Bank for children from low-income families during the school holidays.

including: the second Norfolk record of poplar sawfly common blue damselfly small copper bellflower blunthorn bee cowslip six-spot burnet blackcap white ermine moth

BISHOP’S HOUSE GARDEN Bellflower blunthorn bee, a rare species which hadn’t been recorded in Norwich for over 100 years © Nick Owens

Words by Sam Garland, Head Gardener, Bishop’s House Garden, Norwich Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s survey of the Bishop’s House Garden has been a real eye-opener for me.

Even as a gardener, the complexity and intricacy of the relationships between species within an ecosystem continue to astound me.

The survey has made it clear that promoting one genus of plants really can be the difference between a species existing and not existing in any given place. For instance, by leaving self-sown nettle-leaved campanulas (normally

NWT staff and volunteers, county recorders and wildlife experts all took part To find out more about the Bishop’s House Garden Survey visit: norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/ bishopsgarden

considered a weed) to grow, we attracted the bellflower blunthorn bee into the garden, an extraordinary species that hasn’t been recorded in Norwich for over 100 years. There is a profound message in this example: all parts of the natural world are important, however small.

When you pull up a weed, you may be creating knock-on consequences that affect the wider ecosystem; that weed you want out of your way might be the only food source for an invertebrate struggling to hang on in a world where we are too hasty to keep our outdoor spaces regimentally neat and tidy.

The survey hasn’t just offered good news. It has been worrying to find far lower numbers of moths and butterflies than expected. While these would have once been seen in proliferation during the summer months, we’re now only seeing an occasional flutter. Previous chemical use may be to blame, or the low count may be down to our inner-city environment as the garden is surrounded by artificial lighting.

Perhaps surprisingly, the survey has also taught me that ‘letting things go’ – a practice that’s gaining notoriety these days – may not be the best way to support dwindling wildlife populations.

In some cases, more manicured, artificial environments may actually be better at offering food and habitat. Our formal

herbaceous borders, for instance, appear to attract invertebrates in greater numbers than elsewhere in the garden, possibly due to the high sources of nectar and dense planting.

Above all, certain practices have been recommended again and again by experts in all fields as being fundamental to promoting wildlife in the garden: • Reducing pollution (including light and sound pollution, alongside chemical use) • Creating habitat • Leaving weeds and areas of long grass where possible • Increasing and enhancing bodies of water.

These recommendations will frame our approach going forward, as we continue trying to enhance wildlife populations within the garden. For starters, our team will get to work creating more, and better, over-wintering sites (particularly for beetles, which scored very low in the survey). We’ll also aim to leave more areas of lawn to grow wild and try to find ways to reduce light pollution, at least in some areas of the garden. That will be no mean feat in the middle of a city but I hope that, by next summer, we’ll have improved the garden for biodiversity even more and we can all enjoy seeing a greater variety of important, incredible species in the heart of Norwich.

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31

Upcycle your garden

for wildlife

ILLUSTRATION BY KATY FROST, PHOTO © SARAH CUTTLE

WORDS BY KATE BRADBURY, WRITER AND TV PRESENTER

Use hessian bags to grow bee-friendly plants Many bee-friendly plants grow well in pots and hessian bags make excellent alternatives that you can pack away in winter. Choose drought-tolerant catmint, lavender and Mediterranean herbs like oregano and mint.

Pallet herb garden An upturned pallet can add height to your garden. You can paint it a nice colour and simply wedge plants in their pots between the slats.

Grow plants in saucepans Drill holes in old saucepans and other kitchen containers to make plant pots. They’re perfect for salad crops like lettuce and radish, plus herbs like chives and parsley.

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TERN | Winter 2021

WILDLIFE GARDENING

Wildlife gardening needn’t be expensive.

There’s nothing more rewarding than upcycling old, broken or unused household items into wildlife habitats for the garden.

Upcycling is a fantastic way to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, while saving you money, too. Who needs to buy expensive plant pots when there are old saucepans, wellington boots or even basins and toilets that can be used instead? Or how about making a pond from your old bath or kitchen sink?

There are no limits to what you can do with old, broken and unused items. Use your imagination to find creative ways to find new uses for forgotten possessions

in the loft or shed. What can you use to make a cosy bird box for a blue tit or a refugia for slow worms? Do you have enough old bits of wood to knock up a hedgehog or bat box? Whatever you choose, make sure you use materials safely and effectively. Upcycled gardens look fun, quirky and unique. They can make fantastic wildlife habitats, too.

Get more wildlife gardening tips at: wildlifetrusts.org/actions

Kate Bradbury is passionate about wildlife-friendly gardening and the author of Wildlife Gardening for Everyone and Everything in association with The Wildlife Trusts.

A teapot bird house An old teapot can make the perfect nest site for a robin or wren. Hang it with the spout facing down, in a sheltered site away from cats and other predators.

Tin can bee hotels Fix an old tin can to a fence or wall and pack it with dried, hollow plant stems from 1mm to 12mm in diameter, to attract a range of solitary bees and wasps. Make sure the can overhangs the stems so they don’t get wet.

Old sink pond A Belfast sink or old baby bath make attractive mini container ponds, or sink a full-sized bath into the ground for a bigger pond. Pile up logs or stones to make sure wildlife can get in and out safely.

Plant tray bird bath Fill an old plant pot tray with water to make a bird bath. Stand it on old bricks to raise it from the ground or leave it low to provide water for hedgehogs. Add a stone to help bees escape if they get stuck.

TERN | Winter 2021

33

Discover

Toby goes wild

Toby Sedgewick is ten years old and has been visiting NWT Hickling Broad and Marshes these last two years. He was initially inspired by his Nan, but his interest in wildlife intensified during lockdown. Like all young minds, Toby 34

TERN | Winter 2021

soaks up knowledge like a sponge.

Equipped with binoculars, he carefully notes his sightings and observations.

He is also developing a keen artist’s eye and sketches many of the animals and plants he sees.

Rachel Frain, NWT Senior Visitor Centre Co-ordinator, caught up with Toby at Hickling Broad recently and asked what interests and inspires him, and what tips he has for other budding naturalists: What sparked your interest in nature?

‘My Nan inspired me to take an interest in nature. When I was three years old I remember her teaching me the birds in her garden. I have loved them ever since.’

© RACHEL FRAIN

The term ‘watching wildlife’ can sound passive and sedentary, which it certainly isn’t. Not only do amateur naturalists visit beautiful places and often walk long distances; they take photos, sketch pictures, keep note-books and through observation add to our scientific knowledge of the natural world. A love and interest in nature crosses generations too, and provides a connection that can transcend time, cultural differences and age.

© RICHARD OSBOURNE

Right: A recent highlight for Toby was seeing a Pacific golden plover at NWT Hickling Broad © Andy McGuinness

YOUR SIGHTINGS Norfolk is home to our five native owls, with barn, tawny, long-eared and little owls being resident and short-eared owl now only a winter visitor to our county. No one can deny the excitement felt when you come across one of these beautiful birds; so this winter why not head out and discover your local owls and submit your records to our online Wildlife Spotter Survey?

Log your owl sighting:

For a complete wildlife record we need to know what you saw, when you saw it and where you were. We will share wildlife records submitted with the Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service, Norfolk’s biological records centre.

You can either log your owl sighting via our website norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife-in-norfolk/wildlife-spotter-survey or email wild@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk.

Little owl

What is it about nature and wildlife that you love the most?

‘I find nature really interesting as there are so many different species to learn about and look out for. I also love being outside, surrounded by nature and searching for new wildlife to see.’

Do you have a favourite place to watch wildlife?

‘NWT Hickling Broad is my favourite.

It has lots of different habitats to explore and discover.’

What advice would you give other young nature enthusiasts?

‘Get a good pocket guide book on birds and use it to learn about the species you may see at the places you are visiting before you go; and don’t be afraid to ask questions!’

What wildlife would you like to spot next?

‘I’d love to see great crested newts. I would also like to travel to a reserve where they have sand lizards.’

© DANNY GREEN/2020VISION, EDEN UNWIN, LUKE MASSEY/2020VISION

Do you have a favourite creature or wildlife encounter?

‘My favourite bird is the short-eared owl. A recent highlight was seeing a Pacific golden plover on Brendan’s Marsh at Hickling Broad.’

Tawny owl

Much smaller than both tawny and barn owls, little owls feed mainly on large insects such as beetles and grasshoppers. Look for little owls along country lanes and field boundaries where old pollard oak and ash trees are present. They will nest under the pantiles of derelict farm buildings or in tree holes. This species is easy to overlook; so help us get a better picture of the areas in Norfolk that support little owls.

Tawny owls can be noisy in winter.

Though difficult to spot in woodland, their calls reveal their presence.

The male hoots, while the female has a distinctive ‘keewick’ call, often given in duet, to maintain contact and pair bonds. They favour deciduous woodland and parks with veteran trees. Birds will also frequent large gardens with mature trees. We are especially interested in urban records.

Are tawny owls present in Norfolk’s city parks and town gardens?

Barn owl

Norfolk remains a national stronghold for this much-loved bird, though a week of snow and easterly winds in March 2021 had a major effect on its numbers. Owls were unable to hunt in these strong winds and many did not survive the prolonged lack of food during the cold spell. Help us find out where barn owls still survive. They are most likely to be seen in open countryside, hunting over rough, tussocky grassland, coastal and Broads grazing marshes, heathland and farmland.

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Explore NWT Upton Broad and Marshes There is nothing quite a like a brisk winter’s walk to blow away the cobwebs and spot some fantastic wildlife. This winter, why not pop on your wellies and step out to explore the windswept marshes of Upton?

Thurne

St Benet’s Abbey

N Pump House

South Oby Dyke

Tall Mill

Oby Drainage Mill

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Upton Grazing Marsh

Fen Entrances

22 Bridges

Upton Broad

4 4

Palmers Drainage Mill

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Upton Chapel Road

Start point: Staithe Car Park, Boat Dyke Road, Upton with Fishley Nearest postcode: NR13 6BJ Grid reference: TG 402 127 Map: Ordnance survey: Explorer OL40 Approximate walking time: 1 ½ hours Approximate distance: 2.3 miles

1 From the car park head past Eastwood Whelpton Boat Yard and continue to walk on the left hand side of the dyke.

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Clippesby Drainage Mill

2

Where the path meets the river bear left and go through the gate. Follow the footpath to the large black mill (Tall Mill).

3 At the Tall Mill take the path on the left which will lead you past the mill on the right and a small cottage on the left.

Go through a gate and continue along the footpath until you reach a concrete track.

4 At the concrete track turn left and walk until you reach the road.

Boat Yard

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Parking Public right of way (walk route) Public road (walk route)

P

5 At the road bear left onto Back Lane, taking care to mind for traffic.

6 At the end of Back Lane, bear left where you will eventually see the Staithe car park.

Please note: • Dogs are welcome on this WildWalk route but should at all times be kept on a lead and under close control.

• At times this walk can be very muddy.

• Livestock may be grazing on the marshes.

© DAVID TIPLING

Share your sightings...

Our WildWalks project is a great excuse to get out for a walk, while at the same time helping wildlife in the Broads National Park. Time spent walking in nature has been shown to promote wellbeing.

Taking a walk is also an opportunity to help conservation, by keeping a record of what you see, and submitting your records to add to our understanding. This project is part of the Water Mills and Marshes Landscape Partnership, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and run by the Broads Authority. To share your wildlife sightings with us, please email: wild@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk.

For a complete wildlife record we need to know your name, what you saw, when you saw it, and where you were.

Winter wildlife delights…

Short-eared owls historically bred in East Anglia, from North Norfolk to the north shore of Kent, as well as in the Brecks on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. Sadly, breeding short-eared owls are now mainly found in the north of England and Scotland. In Norfolk you can still see short-eared owls as migrants, usually between October and April.

Upton is a fantastic place to spot a variety of ducks, such as wigeon and teal. Look out for them feeding in the marsh and dabbling on the scrapes. The teal is our smallest duck. Males are grey, with a speckled breast, a chestnut-coloured head and a bright green eye patch. Females are mainly mottled brown, but both sexes show a metallic green wing patch in flight.

Bewick’s swan

The short-eared owl is named after the two short feather tufts on top of its head which look like ears.

Most of the time these tufts are not visible as they lie flat to the head.

Bewick’s swan is an increasingly scarce winter visitor to Norfolk, largely to the Fens and Broads. It is the smaller of our two winter swans (whooper being the larger), with a relatively small bill and kind-looking face. The Bewick’s swans which traditionally wintered in Norfolk breed in the Russian tundra. Adults arrive in autumn with their grey young of the year. Even in flocks they maintain close family bonds throughout the winter.

Redwing

Corvid roost

The redwing is a small thrush that visits Norfolk in winter to feast on berry-laden bushes in hedgerows. Redwings migrate here at night. On clear evenings listen out for their fine ‘tsee’ call overhead. These beautiful thrushes can often be spotted in flocks with fieldfares, moving from bush to bush as they look for food.

© CHRIS GOMERSALL/2020VISION

Short-eared owl

Teal

Although rooks and jackdaws are present all year at NWT Upton Broad and Marshes, it is in winter when they turn the sky black as they gather to form a winter roost. Just before sunset they come together, in a cacophony of sound, as they prepare to roost in woodland adjacent to the marsh.

© DAVID SAVORY

The marsh is home to many birds. Some are resident all year, such as the barn owl and kestrel, while others come here for winter. Here are some winter visitors to the marsh to look out for on your wildlife walk:

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Create your own pollard

Have you ever noticed gnarled old trees in hedges, woodland edges, in parkland or on commons? Chances are these are pollards: trees whose crowns and branches have been repeatedly cut, creating a distinct growth form of branches arising from a noticeably thickened trunk.

From the Middle Ages onwards, pollards were created for several purposes: to form distinct boundary features; for leafy branches which were harvested to feed livestock and known as ‘fodder hay’; and for small wood used for everything from construction and cart wheels to tool handles. Pollards could be grown in hedges or thinly scattered across pasture fields, but they might also be grouped into areas of wood pasture, where livestock was regularly grazed and wood and timber could also be produced.

Pollards are, in effect, aerial coppices, raised on a trunk or bolling, commonly at a height of 2-3 metres, with the regrowing twigs well out of the reach of browsing animals. Pollarding encourages 38

TERN | Winter 2021

new growth, so pollarded trees often outlive their unmodified or ‘maiden’ fellows. The gnarled bark of ancient pollards creates microclimates suitable for lichens, mosses and ferns, as well as many insects; the cracked bark and crevices can be home to small birds, bats and owls, making pollards a wonderful habitat for wildlife, as well as part of the history of our landscape.

Many of Norfolk’s pollards are veteran trees. Although re-starting pollarding might be possible, often it is too much of a shock to old trees and can make them vulnerable to disease. Old pollards should not be re-pollarded unless under exceptional circumstances and

with expert supervision. Creating new pollards from young trees is more likely to be successful and is a simple way to preserve this historic practice. Your pollarded trees will grow old as gnarled veterans, ensuring the survival of this unique habitat.

If you would like to have a go at creating your own pollarded tree, take a look at our pollard and wildlife handout on our website (under Wildlife in Norfolk, Wildlife Information Service) or request the handout by emailing wild@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk

© DANNY GREEN/2020VISION, GUY EDWARDES/2020VISION

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39

Many ways to reap a harvest

In conversation with Norwich Farmshare

WORDS BY MEG WATTS, COMMUNICATIONS INTERN: DIVERSITY

I

am often struck by the dilemma of coexisting with wildlife on a grand scale. We can all make individual changes: accommodating the hedgehogs that cross our outdoor spaces, or the migratory birds that fill our summer skies. But how can we apply these accommodations to vital industries that support our existence, like farming? Just a few miles southeast of Norwich you

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can find a farm with an overwhelmingly positive impact on both people and the planet: beds chock full of seasonal vegetables; piles of organic produce, weighed and sorted into bundles; polytunnels basking in the sunshine; sunflowers waving cheerily above the backs of workers as they pick the crop.

This is Norwich Farmshare; a lovingly cared-for, three-acre plot of communityowned land.

It sounds like a utopian vision but Farm Manager Joel Rodker and his team have proved that small-scale, ecological agriculture can be reality. I caught up with Joel and some of Norwich Farmshare’s community volunteers to hear about the personal harvests they reap from being involved.

Joel’s work covers everything from overseeing growing to coordinating volunteers and ensuring that the farm

is economically viable. ‘It’s pretty small as farms go, but it’s pretty complex,’ he says. ‘Although we’re communityfocused, I want people to recommend us and our vegboxes!

‘We care about being accessible,’ Joel continues. ‘We want the community to support us as volunteers and members, while we promise to provide fresh, chemical-free vegetables, and offer access and informal education to our community members. Then there are the bigger issues of soil degradation, the climate crisis and water abstraction.

We’re trying to model a farming system that demonstrates some of the solutions to those problems.’

Norwich Farmshare avoids using synthetic pesticides and fertilisers in order to protect biodiversity on the farm and ensure streams are not harmed by nitrogen-heavy runoff.

This environmental ethos is echoed by volunteers, including University of East Anglia students Ella Selbie and Trisha Margolis: ‘We decided as a house to start using Norwich Farmshare vegboxes around June 2020. We wanted to access food as sustainably as possible.’ Interest soon transitioned into volunteering.

‘Everything that we do in life has environmental repercussions; it’s really hard to avoid. But spending one day a week doing something that actually is the opposite just feels right.’

Ella has found a real sense of wellbeing from spending time outdoors. ‘You feel so deserving of rest after Farmshare.

Yesterday I took unsaleable broccoli and bolted fennel home; it felt so good to make dinner with it. My body and mind are grateful that I’ve spent the day outside with people who are really nice.

My housemate Trisha got to watch how it benefitted me, and I’ve watched how it’s benefitted Trisha.’

For Trisha, volunteering at Norwich Farmshare has been a chance to reconnect with their early childhood in nature. ‘I was born in a country

where almost every person grows their own food and keeps their own cattle.

It’s the way that they preserve their livelihoods. That has very much stayed with me.’ This is the beauty of Norwich Farmshare: the organisation may rely on the financial value of its produce, but it also offers community education on healthy relationships with the land.

‘Knowing how to farm means so much to me,’ says Trisha, ‘because it gives me something that I can create with so few tools. What remains is not what I don’t have, but what the earth already provides me.’

Joel would like to make Norwich Farmshare still more accessible. ‘When you’re managing land, you have to be aware of the histories of inequality and exploitation there. Where does our food come from? Who owns the land? Who has access to land and are communities welcome? How is land management going to solve the biggest issue we’re facing: climate change?’

Trisha echoes this feeling: ‘I have loved being able to hold space in this community as a black person; not just

because visibility is so important in encouraging communal involvement, but because as a working-class person the access I have had to communal growing space has been incredibly limited. I like that Farmshare is an open community, that you can put your name down and someone will help you organise a lift.’

The ethos of inclusive communality can be felt throughout Norwich Farmshare, but this takes nothing from its focus on farming and land stewardship. ‘We’re looking after the land and the soil and the water cycle,’ says Joel. ‘The way that we grow food has a huge impact on the planet. Even though Norwich Farmshare is very small, if we can work with nature, not against it; then that gives people hope for the future. An environmentally healthy, non-degraded future.’

© NORWICH FARMSHARE, MEG WATTS

NORWICH FARMSHARE

“Farm Manager and Grower Joel Rodker and his team have proved that small-scale, ecological agriculture can be reality”

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LEARN WITH TERN

Learn with Tern

WORDS BY NICK ACHESON, NWT AMBASSADOR

I

t’s easy enough to love flowering plants. Their beauty is understandable to us without effort; and most species are readily identifiable. Their flowers light up our walks through spring and summer, with the added benefit of bringing bees, hoverflies and butterflies into our gardens and lives.

Even in cold, dry Norfolk we have plenty of bryophytes, and they are especially noticeable in winter, our wettest time of year. Everybody has seen common liverwort growing in overwatered nursery plant pots and we have all — a thousand times — walked past wall screw-moss and grey-cushioned grimmia encrusting the tops of walls. Likewise, we all have unenlightened relatives who lament the bright green presence of springy turf-moss in their lawns.

Just like flowering plants and ferns (usually referred to, somewhat judgmentally, as higher plants) most bryophytes are green. This green pigment is chlorophyll, which is essential for photosynthesis, the process by which they make their own food, using carbon dioxide, water and the energy of the sun. However, lacking both roots and a sophisticated vascular system with which to pump water and dissolved nutrients, bryophytes tend to stay small.

Where bryophytes differ most radically from flowering plants is in their 42

TERN | Winter 2021

reproduction. All bryophytes follow the same life cycle, with alternate — and structurally very different — generations existing simultaneously, appearing to a casual observer to be parts of the same plant. What most of us regard as a moss or a liverwort is the leafy, photosynthetic generation, which is known as the gametophyte.

The relatively short-lived sporophyte exists only to produce spores for reproduction. It remains attached to the gametophyte — by a stalk known as the seta — and is dependent on it for fuel.

Many gametophytes can also reproduce asexually, either from gemmae, which are single-celled or multicellular structures composed of undifferentiated (non-specialised) cells, or from leaf fragments.

© CHRIS LAWRENCE, MATTHEW ROBERTS

Bryophytes are less immediately accessible than flowering plants. On closer scrutiny, however, they are every bit as beautiful and enchanting.

Bryophytes, which are considered to be among the most ancient plants to have evolved from ancestral algae, include mosses, liverworts and hornworts.

With its relatively mild, wet climate (especially in the west) the UK is one of the most important countries in Europe for these plants, with almost 60% of European species found here (as opposed to just 20% of flowering plants).

Why is it that most of us neglect these abundant, fascinating and beautiful plants? The answer may be that appreciating their beauty requires a little effort and equipment, in the form of a hand lens and a microscope.

So too their identification. I’ve long been fascinated by flowering plants but am ashamed to have largely neglected bryophytes; the more ashamed because of their importance in capturing water, stabilising bare ground and removing pollutants from the air. As bryophytes flourish in our woods, fields and grassland this winter, I resolve to pay them the attention they deserve. I hope you’ll join me.

Cley Calling:

Community Thursday 9 – Saturday 12 December

Focusing on the importance of diversity and inclusion within conservation, Cley Calling: Community is a festival of writing, art, photography, learning, music and performance all inspired by the natural world. Each event in the festival focuses on uplifting and spotlighting the experiences of people who have formerly been excluded from conservation; drawing on artists and experts to see how we can all get closer to nature.

See page 44 for more details.

To book, visit cleycalling.com

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TERN | Winter 2021

© RICHARD OSBOURNE, JON HAWKINS, SUSANA SANROMAN, KERRY BENSLEY

GET INVOLVED

GET INVOLVED

Cley Calling: Community

Talks will take place both online and in person. NWT Wildlife Ambassador Nick Acheson kicks events off in conversation with the ever-inspiring David Lindo, The Urban Birder, at our Cley Marshes visitor centre on Thursday 9. David will describe his mission to put urban people in touch with nature. On Friday 10 our online digital panel is entitled ‘Access for all: How can we make nature conservation more inclusive?’. It features ornithologist Alex Bond, writer Anita Sethi and conservationist Stuart Butchart.

Throughout the festival, art lovers can visit ‘Common Ground’, an exhibition by youth-led heritage group NNF Common Ground, which presents young people’s responses to the landscapes of Norfolk.

Give a gift to Norfolk’s wildlife this Christmas

With the countdown to Christmas well and truly underway, many of us may have already turned our attention to the annual Christmas shopping spree. During this year’s season of goodwill, why not consider putting something under the tree to benefit our wildlife too? In case you need a little inspiration, here are our top ten nature-friendly stocking fillers and festive fundraising ideas:

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TERN | Winter 2021

© FREDERIC LANDES

Cley Calling: Community is our annual winter celebration of walks, talks, workshops, art and performance inspired by the natural world. This year’s festival takes place from Thursday 9 to Sunday 12 December at NWT Cley and Salthouse Marshes. It focuses on the diversity of our landscapes, our wildlife and our communities. Several events explore the experience of people who have in some way been excluded from wild landscape and conservation.

Artists, scientists, writers and naturalists will all discuss how those of us who love nature can be more inclusive.

Four-piece ensemble The Norfolk Broads also returns to give a witty and wonderful musical accompaniment to Cley’s magnificent landscape on Saturday 11.

On Friday 10, artist Ellen Harling weaves foraging and monoprinting into a collage workshop in which participants create pieces inspired by Cley’s flora, fauna and landscape, while on Sunday 12 artist Alice Lee offers an all-ageswelcome bird mobile workshop.

You can explore our oldest reserve in many ways too. In addition to a beach clean, guided walks and a birding workshop, you can join National Trust ranger Ajay Tegala as he guides you around the reserve, giving you a perfect opportunity to hear about his other career as a presenter on BBC Springwatch!

Tickets for all events mentioned are available from cleycalling.com

Available via the NWT website or your members’ mailing order form: NWT gift membership from £36 (just £3 per month)

Tickets to an event at your local NWT reserve – see website ‘What’s On’ for details NWT 2022 Calendar £9

NWT wildlife notebook (various designs) from £5 NWT wildlife gift £25 – choose from swallowtail butterfly or otter NWT wildlife soap (various designs) – £12 (set of 3)

GET INVOLVED

The Importance of Small Things Following on from the huge success of his Wainwright-winning Diary of a Young Naturalist, Dara McAnulty’s new book Wild Child sees him turning to a voyage of nature discovery through the eyes of a child. Still of a tender age himself, the author’s wonderful approach, tone and poetic language connect brilliantly with the intended young audience of this magical book. Dara McAnulty takes his reader on a fascinating journey of discovery from the wildlife experienced from a bedroom window through garden and wood to upland and river.

Accompanied by beautiful illustrations, each section of the book introduces the reader to fascinating facts about wildlife and habitats, along with more detailed discovery elements on subjects such as migration and categorisation of animals.

There are also some practical ideas on taking action for nature, with guides to bird feeder and terrarium construction.

Melissa Harrison’s new book By Rowan and Yew follows quickly on from the wonderful By Ash, Oak and Thorn which was published earlier in the year.

Arguably best known for her adult fiction and non-fiction, Melissa Harrison has now produced these two enchanting children’s titles. Steeped in wildlife and wild places, By Rowan and Yew continues the story of tiny ancient beings, known as the ‘hidden folk’, and the world they

inhabit. Taking her inspiration from the Borrowers and the Little Grey Men, she takes the reader on a thrilling journey following the adventures of these folk as they travel on a quest to explore their fragile, disappearing world, with poignant and timely echoes of the environmental crisis of today.

Aggi and the Mystic Boots is an inspiring, fun and thought-provoking new book from local authors Rachel Cladingbowl and Harriet Jones and Norwich-based publisher Paramecium Press. The publisher’s name is a charming clue to the world Aggi inhabits: the microscopic world of unicellular ciliates. Aggi’s adventures to discover the very smallest creatures on the planet provide us with a captivating insight into the world of micro-organisms. Aggi shines a light on the often overlooked and little understood tiny creatures that have such a profound impact on how our earth functions.

We have three copies of each book to give away to our readers. Prizes will be sent to the first correct answers selected to the following question: What is the predominant feature of a protist?

Answers to be submitted to competition@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk before 1 March 2022.

Available to purchase at all NWT visitor centres.

Wild Child by Dara McAnulty is published

by Macmillan Children’s Books at £14.99

By Rowan and Yew

by Melissa Harrison is published by Chicken House at £7.99

Aggi and the Mystic Boots

by Rachel Cladingbowl and Harriet Jones is published by Paramecium Press at £8.99

Join your local group

Other ways to support:

‘Save the bees’ tote bag £7 Lisaangel.co.uk (£1 from each sale donated to NWT) Bempton hanging bird table £39.50 vinehousefarm.co.uk (4% of all sales donated to your local Wildlife Trust)

Bird lovers’ gift box £20.99 snoringhedgehog.com (3% of all sales donated to NWT) Buy your gifts via Easy Fundraising, Give As You Live, or Amazon Smile (a small % of each purchase donated to NWT)

Local Groups meet informally throughout the year for talks, walks and social occasions. There is nothing you need to do to join a local group – simply find an event that appeals to you and come along! If you wish to receive emails from the local group for your area, you will need to opt in if you haven’t already, as these emails are classed as marketing – please email membership@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk and confirm you would like to receive events information by email. This will ensure your local group can contact you if they are sending a newsletter.

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FROM THE PRESIDENT

From the President

© ROBIN CHITTENDEN

WORDS BY PATRICK BARKHAM, NATURAL HISTORY WRITER AND NWT PRESIDENT

T

rump, Obama, Sarkozy – there are a few unemployed presidents that Norfolk Wildlife Trust could have phoned, so I feel incredibly honoured to be made the new one.

In case you’re wondering who I am, I haven’t come from running a small country and won’t be urging NWT to put a warden on the moon or whatever US presidents do. I am a Norfolk boy, I love nature and my day job is to write about it, mainly for the Guardian but also in books.

Norfolk Wildlife Trust has always been a huge part of my life. My first ten years were spent living next door to Booton Common, one of NWT’s many hidden gems. Every summer, my dad and I used to visit nearby Foxley Wood to hunt for the purple emperor, a glamorous, iridescent purple butterfly that became extinct in Norfolk in the early 70s. It was long gone but, thrillingly, it has returned in recent summers, thanks to the Trust’s restoration efforts.

I’m not that young (I’m 46) but I may be the first President that an NWT warden can remember scampering around in short trousers! I spent summers at Holme Dunes as a boy, in the days when The Firs included a holiday let.

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“We live in anxious times. I’ve found the only cure for environmental despondency is to get involved in positive work on our local patch. With a charity like NWT, we can really see how our support protects Norfolk’s best places for wildlife.”

Gary Hibberd was the young warden hard at work there then, and he’s the young warden hard at work there still!

Being ‘President’ is an honorary role and the real graft is done by wardens like Gary, their brilliant volunteers, the chairman, trustees and the unsung heroes in the Norwich office under the exciting new leadership of Eliot Lyne.

I’d also like to thank our impressive and lovely outgoing president, Bill Jordan, for all his excellent, wise support over the last decade.

These people are Norfolk Wildlife Trust but so are we, its members – and together we are a genuine force for good, for nature and people.

We live in anxious times. I’ve found the only cure for environmental despondency is to get involved in positive work on our local patch.

With a charity like NWT, we can really see how our support protects Norfolk’s best places for wildlife.

We need nature everywhere, and I will do my best to help all the Trust’s great projects in coming years – from restoring ‘ghost pingos’ in the Brecks to providing city children with inspiring wild experiences. Like all the most worthwhile missions, Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s is driven by a love and care for other things. Can we make our county happier, healthier and wilder? In the words of another president, yes we can!

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